The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Where to buy replacement rocker assembly parts

I opened the valve cover and removed the rocker assembly on my 1960 C10. There is a lot of wear on the shafts and the oil pipe part in the middle is broken. I would like to replace the oil piece (is there an official name for this?) so I can see if the engine will turn over and run. I suppose I can replace the other parts or even the whole assembly if that makes sense but is it even possible to source individual parts for this?

Pics below show the part I need and some of the bad wear on the shaft.

The broken part is known as an "oil connector". There are several designs, depending on the year of manufacture. Yours is the latest design, which supplies full oil pressure to the rocker shafts. New parts of the rocker arm system are very scarce, unless you happen to find "new old stock" parts somewhere like Ebay. Fortunately, there's a pretty good supply of serviceable used items. Those rocker shafts are definitely too deeply grooved to be cleaned up and reused. I see new ones on Ebay pretty regularly. Some machine shops can bore out the rockers and install bushings, which makes them better than new. If I can get over my current bout with Covid sometime soon, I'm considering getting tooled up to recondition rockers in my shop.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry. I see a similar oil connector on ebay but it's not exactly the same, I am not sure if the bend is correct to enter the hole in the head. See pic below. I'll look into getting new shafts and the oil connector. I thought about trying to fix the current connector but I figured it might be easier to just order a replacement part.

Well it looks like that part should work for my application. Apparently there were several different styles of oil connectors that should be interchangeable. I see a comparison photo at this link that describes all the differences.

I also tracked down a source for the rocker arm shafts, they carry replacements at egge manufacturing for about $47 apiece. I will order the replacement oil connector and use my current rocker shafts until I see if this engine is going to work out. If it does I know where to order new shafts.

Be sure to have a good supply of "personal lubricant" on hand when dealing with Egge. They're my absolute last choice when looking for parts.
Jerry

If you know a different source for the rocker arm shafts let me know. These are all I could find. I would think these would be more available since they seem like a high wear item that needs replacing.

I bought a new set from eBay and they were perfect. That vender is currently out of stock but I found another with a 99.9% rating. search for “2 Rocker Arm Shafts 1941-1962 Chevrolet 216 235 6-cylinder CHEVY NEW PAIR” by seller “old.parts”.

I think either style you have pictured will work. You could even take an earlier one and pinch off the overflow to pressurize the shaft.

To the best of my knowledge, any rocker arm shaft from a 216, 235 or 261 (1941-62) will interchange. There are a couple of different designs of rocker arms. Your engine will need the ones with the lubrication groove offset from the spit hole on top of the rocker.
Jerry

Here's one Ebay reference but the vendor seems to be temporarily out of stock:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153595700092

For a temporary engine run, you can turn the rocker shafts upside down and pivot the rockers on the unworn top side. It's not a good fix, but it will allow you to make a test run. The rocker arm bores are probably egg-shaped as well but that's not going to keep the engine from running.

You could also try starting a thread in the "parts wanted" forum. Chances are that a stovebolter might have a trashed engine with a good rocker assembly on it. One was given away free just a few days ago.
Jerry

I might have the rocker arm shaft you are looking for. Let me take a look! I have about 2-3 sets laying in a box.

Chris

Thanks for the tip, I will check back on ebay. I did order the oil connector part to get me going for now.



I think you are correct but all I know is what I have been reading on forums like this one. My current rocker shafts have a flattish portion along the bottom of the shaft where the holes are


Thank you Chris, let me know if you do. I am going to use mine for now but if everything works out and this engine works I'd like to replace these.

The shafts are supposed to be round. Those flat spots are wear, caused by the lack of lubrication from the broken oil connector. Check the rocker arms- - - -they will probably also be worn egg-shaped. Rockers can be reconditioned by boring the holes out and installing bushings- - - -the shafts are junk and need to be replaced. If you're just trying to get the engine running, don't worry about the worn parts- - - -the engine will still run as long as you take up the slack with the valve adjusters. I'd recommend turning the shafts upside down temporarily to put the worn spots on top to minimize the amount of wear you have to compensate for. It's not a permanent fix, just a work-around to get the engine running and check out the rest of its condition.
Jerry

Just looked, I don’t have the one you need. Sorry

Thanks for checking. I'll keep an eye on ebay

Before you start buying scarce and expensive parts, wouldn't it be wiser to evaluate the condition of the rest of the engine? All it takes is a little labor to do things like drop the oil pan and look at the condition of the crankshaft, connecting rod bearings, and other major parts. Just reassembling the valve train with the parts you have and doing a wet and dry compression test would give you an idea whether or not the engine is going to need any major repairs. A cylinder leakdown test with compressed air will be even more informative than a compression check. None of that sweat equity is as glamorous as getting it to run, but a jug of hand cleaner is a lot less expensive than a laundry list of parts that just might get installed on what eventually turns out to be a boat anchor. You don't even need the oil connector to do a compression test.
Jerry

I am planning on seeing if the engine is able to run before sinking a bunch of money into it. The only part I have bought so far is the oil connector. I spent the weekend cleaning sludge off the head, rocker assembly, and lifter rods and under the side cover. That's when I noticed the well-worn shafts. Assuming the engine works I wanted to have some idea of where to buy replacement parts. Truthfully I don't know much about all the different tests you mentioned but I was planning on following the stovebolt guide here - https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engines/Dead%20Engine%20Start/index.html

I have a neighbor who knows a lot about these old trucks so I've also been relying on him to guide me through this process. The engine turns with the fan blade and you can feel and hear air whooshing out of the spark plug holes so hopefully those good signs point toward a working engine.

Thx

Rocker arms are probably the toughest part of our beloved motors, second only to the oil pump pickup. With respect to the shafts, sealed power and trw both made replacements at one time and they do turn up once in a blue moon on ebay. Edgge has them but god almighty, everything they sell is really expensive. Once you have shafts, you need to deal with the rockers which need to be bushed and sized, adjuster tips replaced, valve end resurfaced. Even if you could put together a set of nos rocker arms, you would still have to size the rockers to the shafts as in just because they are nos does not mean they are right.

The only rebuilding alternative that I know of is rockerarms unlimited. They have been in the biz a long time. I have had a couple of sets of rockers rebuilt by them. They re-chrome and re-machine the shafts, rebuild the rocker arms themselves , then rebuild the rocker assembly. Its a good bot of work but they come back good as new. Not cheap, but worth it in my view. Quiet, stable and working correctly.

http://www.rockerarms.com/

Henry the Wound If you watch at the swap meets you will see valve covers full of rocker arm parts,find some OK stuff to get yours running to see if it's worth it. Bought a 10$ cover load a while back.

I'm in the process of working out the details of a project to replace the shaft-type valve gear on a stovebolt six with stud-mounted roller rockers for a big block Chevy V8. It's still in the drawing board stage, and my current medical situation is keeping me out of the shop. Things are on hold right now, but it looks like there might be an alternative to scrounging up 70 year old worn bits and pieces.
Jerry

Henry,

Go look at the rocker arms that you have and tell us the numbers. I know I have extra ones, but not sure if they are the ones you need. There should be 4 separate numbers (different rocker arms).

Chris

Hey Chris, I don't think I need any new arms it's the shafts that are worn. Thanks for the offer though.

You can check the arms by moving them to an unworn portion of the shaft. I replaced my shafts on my ‘59 235, and the arms were not worn at all.

I do not know if this source of rocker arms shafts has been posted above:

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/7507/Chevrolet_Rocker_Arm_Shaft.html

It was not posted thanks. It looks the same in pics but I don’t know if it’s compatible. The description lists years up to 58

As Hotrod Lincoln already pointed out, 216’s, 235’s and 261’s share the same rocker arm shaft. Only the rocker arms are different. They made them (235-261) up to 1962.